In Gulfport, Fla., an artsy waterfront city of about 12,000, downed trees and piles of debris line streets that were once neatly flanked by modest pastel homes. Construction crews are a common sight.
Residents are still recovering from Hurricanes Helene, which battered Florida’s Gulf Coast a year ago, and Milton, which hit less than two weeks later. Many have been ordered to completely rebuild damaged homes instead of repair them, upending their lives and changing the small-town feel of a place that was unique in the condo-packed state.
In communities participating in the federal flood insurance program, any home that has been “substantially damaged” must be rebuilt to the latest flood-resistant standards or demolished.
The rule is meant to make cities and towns along the water more resilient. But in Gulfport and other storm-torn coastal communities, it has forced thousands of hard decisions throughout the past year. The cost of compliance was simply too high for some residents, so they sold, often at a loss.
“The locals are disappearing,” said Nancy Poucher, 70, an artist who bought a mustard-colored bungalow in Gulfport with her husband for their retirement. The house flooded badly during Helene, and the cost of rebuilding to code was too high.
The post Making Florida More Flood Resistant Is Forcing Hard Choices for Homeowners appeared first on New York Times.
